This application claims the benefit of Korean Application No. 2001-36017, filed Jun. 23, 2001, in the Korean Industrial Property Office, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to kimchi refrigerators used to appropriately ferment a kimchi and to keep the kimchi cool in a desired state for a lengthy period of time. More particularly, the present invention relates to a kimchi refrigerator provided with a door at a top of a cabinet for closing a storage compartment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Storing a kimchi in a well controlled temperature is important to prevent over-fermentation and souring of the kimchi. Kimchi refrigerators are specifically designed to appropriately ferment a newly pickled kimchi using a heating unit, in accordance with a users taste, and to keep the fermented kimchi cool in a desired state for a lengthy period of time using an evaporator constituting a refrigerating cycle.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional kimchi refrigerator having a cabinet 1 partitioned in its interior into a storage compartment 2a and a machine compartment 4. An evaporator 5 and a heater 6 are set in a sidewall of the cabinet 1, while a door 8 is mounted to a top edge of the cabinet 1 by a hinged joint 8a so as to dose the storage compartment 2a. The door 8 allows a user to access the compartment 2a of the kimchi refrigerator.
The cabinet 1 includes an inner casing 2 which has a box shape and is open at its top to form the storage compartment 2a, and an outer casing 3 which encloses the inner casing 2. A gap formed between the inner and outer casings 2 and 3 is filled with an insulating material to form an insulation wall 7.
The evaporator 5 comprises a coiled refrigerant pipe, which is installed in the cabinet 1 to surround an external surface of the sidewall of the inner casing 2. In the conventional kimchi refrigerator, the evaporator 5 directly cools the inner casing 2 so as to reduce the temperature of the storage compartment 2a. The heater 6 comprises a heating coil, which is circumferentially arranged on the sidewall of the inner casing 2 to extend along the coiled refrigerant pipe of the evaporator 5.
The storage compartment 2a is kept cool by a heat conduction through the sidewall of the inner casing 2 installed with the evaporator 5, and through natural convection of cool air inside the compartment 2a. Similarly, a kimchi (not shown) in the storage compartment 2a is also kept cool. In addition, the top of the storage compartment 2a is opened by opening the door 8, and so a user easily takes a desired amount of the kimchi out of the compartment 2a. 
However, the conventional kimchi refrigerator has a disadvantage in that there is a nonuniform temperature distribution, as shown by curves A of FIG. 1, along the height of the storage compartment 2a. That is, the evaporator 5 directly cools air inside the storage compartment 2a, and the newly cooled air flows downward to a lower area of the compartment 2a. Meanwhile, air raised in its temperature by absorbing heat from the kimchi, or atmospheric air introduced into the compartment 2a through the top opening of the compartment 2 flows upward to an upper area of the compartment 2a. Therefore, the temperature of the upper area inside the storage compartment 2a is higher than the temperature of the lower area. This nonuniform temperature distribution causes over-fermentation of the kimchi stored at the upper area of the compartment 2a near the door 8, and reduces the freshness of the kimchi so as to sour the kimchi.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a kimchi refrigerator with an improved door structure capable of reducing the temperature difference between areas of different heights in the storage compartment.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and, in part, will be obvious from the description, or may be learned by practice of the invention.
To achieve the above and other objects of the present invention, there is provided a kimchi refrigerator having a cabinet which defines a storage compartment and which is open at its top, an evaporator which cools air inside the cabinet and that is set within a sidewall of the cabinet, and a door which opens/doses the storage compartment mounted on a top of the cabinet, the door comprising an air storage chamber provided under a lower surface of the door, and an air separation panel, which separates air inside the air storage chamber from air inside the storage compartment, mounted to the lower surface of the door.
According to an aspect of the present invention, the air separation panel is made of an aluminum plate having a high heat conductivity.
According to another aspect of the present invention, the air separation panel is made of a heat nonconductive material, and includes a plurality of air guide holes which guide air flowing upward in the storage compartment into the air storage chamber.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, each of the air guide holes has a diameter and which tapers to reduce the diameter toward the air storage chamber from the storage compartment.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, the door is provided with a depression on its lower surface spaced apart from the air separation panel so as to define the air storage chamber.
According to an additional aspect of the present invention, the door is provided with a locking groove on its lower surface formed along an edge of the depression, and the air separation panel is provided along its edge with a locking flange which is inserted into the locking groove.